ABSTRACT
Summary: Educational opportunity for minority groups in Australia has been embedded within a context of social and political policies designed to reflect the changing pattern of Australian society. Currently, in terms of access and outcome measures, minority groups are not, on average, disadvantaged, except in relation to achievement outcomes in language-related areas. Aspiration levels of immigrants tend to be high, with parents supportive of their children's schooling. However, there are other factors to be taken into account, such as social class and family resources (intellectual and economic), differences in commitment to schooling between and among different immigrant groups, and some evidence of differing cultural expectations for immigrant boys and girls. Overall, the evidence suggests that social class factors rather than minority group membership tend to inhibit equality of educational opportunity.
